Food canning



April 27, 1943. c, MARX 2,317,470

FOOD CANNING INVENTOR.

Freclericli GMar-z Patented Apr. 27, 1943 smiths This inventionrelates-Etc the healthier 1 canning of foods and, is particularlyconcerned with means adapted for use in '{connectionswith can-headingmachinery known as seamers, that is, machines in which each of a'series; of cans is carried into juxtaposition with alid which isthereupon sealed ,by ias -itable curling operaf tion to the topof the ceV v .t v

This invention concerns itself with means,- operative during the passageof the filled .cans to the lid-applyingportion ofthe machinaduring whichinterval, according to this invention; each can is operated upon; inthe'top. portiom-by a jet of steam under pressure whereby'the air andgases are expelled from the. can andthe :food therein whereby anincreased vacuum within the;

can is provided.

An object of the invention is to provide steam injection means of thischaracterzwhich may be selectively controlled, bothflas to quantity of.steam and'pressure, in orderutoflmeet the re 1' quirements of varioustypes of canning.

A further object of the invention is tdre tard the formation of thes0-ca11ed hydrogen' shelves as in stores.

Another object is the provision of nieansfac- F complishing theresults'described, which m'eans are simple and eflicient and may beapplied toexaccompanying drawings in which:

means described herein and illustrated in the Fig. 1 is an'elevationalview of'a s'ean'ier't'o which the invention has been applied; 'part's being broken away.

Fig.2 is a .plan view of the table portion of a the seamer with theinventionin place thereon; I Fig.8 is a cross-sectional'viewontheline'li-3 of F1312.

As suggested above,

one of the di fiilculties en counteredin vcanned foods is the lossesresulting from so-called flippers, springers "or ffhi d'roen swellsformed on cans as the result of the pressure of gases within, suchswells renderingthe cans-oi, ioodunmarketable. These swells areespecially noticeable in cans containing food having marked acid andcolor characteristics such as prunes, berriesncarrots, the juices ofgrapes, prunes, etc. Th'epfesent invena ln'accordance wlth wenikricwii hI I filled but'unliddedlcans are adapted tofb'e frn oved ing'assemblyfor the can lift i8 is housed o adjacent side of the seamer,'i'ns'tlie'lo w thereohas'shown at '59." ilt 'willfhe undtil'SuQQd thatthe an, art it is, in its low iedflposition; the same level as thecanhotto'rns atjthe tirne tats-la Marie," CincinnatifOhibQ assi ns t ofthe cans during 1 passage 'of the latter to the seaming operation; thespent steam and expelled: air and :gases: heing carried off-throughsnita hle exhausts; L-i

A seamer of the :kind-adapte'd'tohave theip'resf ent invention appliedthereto maycom'prise a base 5 supporting" a 'stan'dardjft which; in'turn supports a tab1e 1,*and,-spaced well above-"thisf v a shelf 8;.The"standardfigimits upper portion; j has a suitable vertical driveshaft'inou-hted there on (not' shown) and'qfro'm' this":drivefshaft, vthrough a suitable gear arrangement; a horizontal drive shaft 9 extendsto a 'later'al' portion'o'f" fthe imachine where its power is"transmitted through suitable' chain and sprocket xneansifto' othermovingparts=of -themachine; as'will-be r further le'feireditb.

over the -table 1 in spaced succession to the lid-' applying operation;Forthusrnoving the cansj' therexisiprovided aflstar wheelgindicatedgit-l0 ;-(Fig: 3) -mounted on the-table L a at 'll'iiiFigg "-2) andassociated in drive relationship, by 'm'eans 1 whichneed' not bedetailed; with the horizontal- 1 drive-shaft 9. The cans areintroducedupon the I tablelli-at about the point indicated at |2vinfFig. 2. The-star wheel rotates in the directionji'ndi "-cated .by the arrows (Fig.,-2 )':"and" each arm "thereof carries one of the cans in a curvilinear.path around to the opposite side" of 'thetablel fv j Suitable guidemeans; includingtheoutei' ji3 (Fig-. 3) and the'inner guideSL'maintaiHthe p *cans in proper alignment during 'me emje'nme the seaming"operationi- After being carried to the opposite'side of the-table bythe star wheel," as mentioned, each can" is then 'en'gagedby' one 1 ,7"of th'ejtfinger'sgl d attached toasprock'et chain 55 p the upperreachflfi of which extends'towardthe" 7 rear of the seamer. Guide-rails"n hold the cans in alignment during movement' by the. eha'irilSandthereafter the cans are glepositedion'e'iat time, uponajcan lift i8(Fig; l}.

each can 'is' deposited"thereon; Immediately thereafterthe can i'slifted up to juxtaposition with a or'cover which is thereupon applied 5to thecan, in awell known manner, by theseamto which repeatedly?-injected into the tops a id lng assembly positioned within the housing20. The can lift I3 is immediately lowered and the seamed can isreplaced by the succeeding can and .the operation repeated, the seamedcans being ejected from the seamer as at 2|.v It may be remarked herethat the movement of individual lids from the bottom of a stack 22 intoalignment with the individual cans, is effected by a suitable lever (notshown) operated from a horizontal shaft 23 which, at its outer end, isprovided with a sprocket 24 over which the chain I9 passes. It may befurther pointed out that the vertical mounting shaft ll of the starwheel has suitable connection with a horizontal shaft 25 (Fig. 1)extending to the side of the seamer and there provided with a sprocket23 which is engaged by the chain l5. From thence the chain extendsupwardly and passes over a sprocket 21 secured to a stud shaft 23.

The foregoing description willgive sufllcient mechanical background forthe invention here under consideration. This comprises a curved plate 29positioned above and corresponding-with the pathway of the cans beingcarried by the star wheel. The plate 29 is formed along the centerlongitudinal line with an inverted channel 30 and along-each edgethereof with enlarged segments 3| and 32 provided with interior passages33 and 34. These passages are connected at intervals with the under faceof the plate 29 by small ports 35.

The under face of the plate 29 and the channel 30 are covered by acontact plate 36 which at specified intervals is formed withperforations 31 communicating with the interior of channel 33. I

The plate 23 is supported by the shelf 3 and table 1. For this purpose,one end of the plate {9 is secured as at 38 to the shelf. Furthersupport is afforded the plate by means of an arm 39 secured to the shelf8. Similar support arms 4| and 42 are secured as at 43 and 44 to thetable 1. In Fig. 3 it will be seen that these arms are connected, as at430, with suitable bosses 440 formed on the enlarged segments 31 and 32of the plate 29. It .will be seen in Fig. 2 that the outer end of thepiate29 is curled upwardly as at 45 to obviate interference with cansentering therebeneath.

A terminus plate 46 (Fig. 2) extending above the final straight portionof the can guideway has its end connected as at 41 with the end of thecurved plate 29. A support arm 460 extends from shelf 8 to plate 46.Said terminus plate has a channel 43 which corresponds and connects withthe centralin'verted channel 39 of the plate 29. The terminus plate 46is also formed with an enlarged outer edge section 49 through whichextends a passage 50 corresponding and connecting with the passage 33 ofsaid plate 29. The passage 50, similarly, is provided with outlet portsand the channel 48, opening on the underside of the plate 46, is coveredby a plate member similar to the member 36 (Fig. 3) of the large curvedplate 29 and provided with a similar perforation 53 (Fig. 2).

. The sides of the can passage are formed by apron members 54 (Fig. 3)depending from and attached to the underside of the plate 29 so that thecan passage is substantially enclosed.

Steam under pressure is projected into the central inverted channel 30of the curved plate 29 and the corresponding channel 48 of the terminusplate 46, and the steam is injected into the imp portion of each canduring the passage of the latter past each of the perforations 31 and 33of the said plates. The means for accomplishing this result will now bedescribed.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a closed steam box or chamber 53 suitably supportedat the side of the seamer. This steam box is divided interiorly into anupper and lower compartment by a partition 33 and this partition isprovided with a valve seat within which the head of a poppet valve 31seats. Steam under pressure, from a suitable supply, is introduced intothe lower compartment of the steam box through a conduit 5|. The uppercompartment of the steam box is con nected by a tube 39 with theinterior of the inverted channels 30 and 43 of the plates 29 and 48. g

The lower end of the poppet valve 51 projects below the steam box and isthere acted upon by a cam 90 (Fig. i) secured to the outer end of theshaft 24 and so arranged as to actuate the valve 31. This actuation issynchronized with the cans traveling through the guideway in suchfashion that steam is ejected through the perforations 31 and 33 just asthe cans are passing beneath these perforations. It may be remarked inthis connection, in Fig. 3, that the clearance between the top edge ofthe cans (one of which is indicated at BI) and the plate immediatelythereabove is only sufficient to preclude the danger of interferencewith the movement of the cans through the guideway. The injection ofsteam into the tops of the cans from the perforations 31 and 33 iseffected, therefore, with very little loss of pressure and contents ofthe cans. The injected steam, as has already been suggested, results indriving out air and gases from above or around the food in the can,which result is added to each time the can passes beneath one of thesteam jets.

A final blast of steam is injected into each can immediately prior tothe actual seaming operation, that is, just before the can becomespositioned upon the can lift I3. For this purpose the end of theinverted channel 43 (Fig. 2) of the plate 46 has connected thereto andcommunicating therewith a tube 82 which, at its opposite end as at 63(Fig. l), is directed toward the interior of the last can in theguideway for delivering the final blast of steam referred to. In Fig. la can indicated at 84 is about to be carried beneath the ejection end 83of the tube 32. It 'will further be seen that can 34 is traveling pastsuitable guide-rails 65 provided at the side of the can passage at thisinterval.

The spent steam and air ejected from the cans is carried oii'through thepassages 33, 34 and 30 of the plates-29 and 48, being introduced intothese passages through the small ports 33 and II. The said passages 33and 34 are connected by branch tube 88 (Fig. 1) with a main exhaust tube61 and this latter is associated at its outer end with suitable negativepressure or suction means (not shown).

The plates 29 and 43 may be adjusted upwardly and downwardly toaccommodate cans of different heights by adjustment means such asindicated at 31 and 33 (Fig. 3)..

The cam 69 is operative on the poppet valve for an interval sufficientto effect the injection of steam into each can during' the whole periodof the latters passage beneath the perforations 31 and 53. For varyingthe interval during which the steam jets are operative, the cam 60 maybe replaced with others of selected sizes to procure thedesirecl openinterval of the poppet valve 51,

The application of the means of this invention to various types ofseamers is a matter of simple mechanical expedients.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a seamer adapted to seal lids on filled cans offood, the seamer comprising a carrier for moving a series of cans to thesealing mechanism, of a steam injector posiseal lids on filled cans offood, the seamer comprising a carrier for moving a series of cans to thesealing mechanism, of a covering plate positioned directly above thecans and formed with a passage communicating with the under surface orthe plate, means for injecting steam through said passage into the topof each can as the. 1atter passes therebeneath for driving out-air andgases from the cans and for providing thereby an increased vacuum in thesealed cans, and means synchronized with the movement of the cans foractuating the steam blast during complete movement of the cantherebeneath.

3. The combination with a seamer adapted to seal lids on filled cans offood, the seamer com- 10 prising a carrier for moving a series of cansto the sealing mechanism, of a covering plate positioned directly abovethe cans and formed with a passage communicating with the under surfaceof the plate, means for injecting steam through 15 said passage into thetop of each can as the latter passes therebeneath for driving out airand gases from the cans and for providing thereby an increased vacuum inthe sealed cans, and means synchronized with the movement of the 20 canswhereby the steam jets are continued dur-- ing total movement or eachcan therebeneath.

FREDERICK C. MARX.

